Guide bars for warp knitting machine



April 26, 1966 R. F. LANTHIER 3,247,636

GUIDE BARS FOR WARP KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 28, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1IN VENTOR.

ATTORNEY A ril 26, 1966 R. F. LANTHIER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 28,1963 p RM .y mr m WM w v/.

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April .1966 R. F. LANTHIER 3,247,686

GUIDE BARS FOR WARP KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 28, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 3April 26, 1966 R. F. LANTHIER 3,247,686

GUIDE BARS FOR WARP KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 28, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 4ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,247,686 Patented Apr. 26, 19663,247,686 GUIDE BARS FOR WARP KNITTING MACHKNE Raymond F. Lanthier, 55Mayer Drive, Suifern, N.Y. Filed May 28, 1%3, Ser. No. 283,830 7 Claims.(Cl. (id-86) The present invention relates to an attachment for warpknitting machinery and more particularly to means for easily increasingthe number of guide bars avaliable for use in a warp knitting machinesuch as a knitting machine of the Raschel type.

The intricacy and variety of pattern that can be created by a Rascheltype warp knitting machine are primarily dependent upon the number ofguides available for independent movement as the knitted fabric isproduced. The guides are carried by the guide bars and it is theshogging movement imparted to the guide bars that creates the pattern inthe fabric as the machine goes through its knitting cycle.

Because the modern trend has been and continues to be a demand for moreand more intricate and various designs many attempts have been made toprovide a Warp knitting machine with a substantial increase in thenumber of independently movable guide bars. The solution. for theproblem is not only important to increase the flexibility of machinesalready in the field but to provide new compact machines which canproduce more intricate and varied patterns without substantiallyincreasing the cost, size and Weight of the machine.

Attempts have been made to increase the number of guide bars availableto the knitter by increasing the number of individual guide barssuspended from the hangers. This procedure is self-limiting as all ofthe guides in each knitting cycle must be swung from one side of theneedles to the other sided uring the gaiting motion. As can be readilyappreciated by those familiar with the operation of a Raschel knittingmachine, the magnitude of the angular displacement of the guide barhangers and the distance through which the guides must be moved duringgaiting are directly related to the speed at which the machine canproduce fabric. The longer the gaiting motion that is necessary, theslower the rate of production of the machine.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a guide barassembly in which the number of individual movable guide bars isincreased without increasing the length of the arc of movement requiredduring gaiting.

It can further be appreciated that increasing the number of guide barssimply by increasing the number of single guide bars supported by thehangers, with its concomitant increase in the arc of the gaiting motion,causes an excessive amount of yarn to be pulled from the yarn supplysource during the gaiting motion. This creates an over-abundance ofslack in the yarn when the guides, after shogging, move back through theneedles to the latch side and makes it extremely difficult to controland maintain proper tension in the knitting yarn.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a means forincreasing the number of the guide bars without increasing the size ofthe machine or the space it occupies and further without substantiallyincreasing the weight of the machine.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a devicein which there is an increase in number of available independentlymovable guide bars Without increasing the vibrational forces createdduring the knitting cycle, which forces have a harmful effect on themachine, its mounting and the surroundings.

An important feature of the present invention is that it may beincorporated in presently existing Raschel knitting machines withoutsubstantial alteration of the machine and therefore its advantages canbe obtained by adapting machines already in use in the field. Moreover,even after adaptation to incorporate the present invention the machinewill continue to use the presently exiting chains and links and afurther investment for changes therein is not necessary.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will bemore readily apparent from the following description and drawings, inwhich drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a Raschel knitting machinein accordance with the invention illustrating the general structure forplacement purposes;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 on FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 on FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional View taken along line 44 on FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front elevation of a fragment of the guide barstogether with their associated mounting bracket and hanger arm;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 on FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a partially broken-away enlarged elevation view of the pusherbar and its associated mountings;

FIG. 8 is a sectional View taken along line 8-8 on FIG. 3; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9-9 on FIG. 3. I Theinvention as shown herein will be illustrated and described as adaptedfor use in a Raschel knitting machine of the type illustrated in FIG. 1.0f.course it is adaptv able for use in warp knitting machines of alltypes.

No useful purpose will be served by describing in detail a high speedwarp knitting machine of the Raschel type, the structure and mechanismof which are well known in the art. There is contained herein,therefore, a detailed description of the guide bars and their associatedparts which embody the present invention with only a limited descriptionof the machine in which the present invention will be employed merely toindicate how the invention is associated with and adapted for use in aconventional warp knitting machine of the Raschel type.

The knitting yarn is fed into the knitting machine from beams 10 carriedon beam rack 11 and through other guide and tension maintaining means(not shown) well known in the art.

The knitting elements are carried by heavy frame 12 and the drivingmechanism for the machine is contained within housing 13.

The guide bar rocker shaft 15 is journalled in bearing 16 carried byframe 12 and has imparted to it a timed reciprocal motion from thedriving mechanism contained in housing 13 through suitable connectingrod and lever 17.

Secured to the rocker shaft 15 are the guide bar hangers 20 from whichthe guide bar assemblies 19 are suspended by hanger arms 21 and stubrods 22. In the machine illustrated there are two guide bar hangers 20,one located at each side of the machine.

The shogging motion is transmitted to the guide bar assembly 19 throughthe push bars 23 which are carried within slider boxes 24 mounted onshelf 25 rigidly secured to frame 12. A conventional pattern chaincarried on and driven by pattern chain drum mounted adjacent to shelf 25imparts the desired shogging sequence to the push bars 23. The patternchain and its associated parts are not illustrated in FIG. 1.

The fabric F produced by the machine is fed down through the bottom ofthe machine and is taken olf between tension rollers 26.

As can best be seen in FIG. 2 the fabric F is produced by the knittingaction accomplished by needles 28 and the guides carried on hangers 20.This knitting action is accomplished and the pattern obtained through aseries of movements well known in the art.

The pattern guides 29 and the ground guides 30 which carry the yarns tobe knitted threaded through eyes located near their lower ends are movedin shogging motion in and out of the plane of FIG. 2. The guides 29 and30 are also moved in the gaiting motion by shaft 15 rocking the hangers20. The needles 28 mounted for substantially vertical reciprocalmovement on trick plate 31 are provided with suitable and customarylatches. By timed relative movement of the guides and needles in thecustomary well-known manner the fabric is produced.

As seen in FIG. 2 the nine hanger arms 21 and associated stub rods 22carried by the guide bar hanger 20 to the furthest right in the drawingall have supported therefrom multiple guide bar units 19 embodying thepresent invention. Moving in a counter-clockwise direction the next fourhanger arms 21 and stub rods 22 carry the conventional single guide bars33 and the last three elements carried by the hanger 20 and located onthe extreme lefthand side of FIG. 2 are the heavier ground guides 30 andground guide bars 34.

In producing the fabric the yarn carried by the guides 29 produces thedesign while the yarn carried by the ground guides 30 produces theground fabric. Since the ground guide bars which knit the ground fabricare under heavier tension and carry a greater burden than the patternguides 29 it is necessary that they be constructed in a more sturdymanner than pattern guides 29. Moreover, since the shogging motion ofthe ground guides is usually limited to movement around one singleneedle their increased weight is not of substantial importance. Thisfactor of weight is important, however, in connection with the patternguides 29 and their associated pattern guide bars 35. To create thedesired pattern the shogging motion of the pattern guides 29 transmittedto them by their associated guide bars 35 may be substantial and requiretheir movement past several of the needles 28;

As can be appreciated from FIG. 2, by employment of the presentinvention four separate independently movable guide bars 35 are nowlocated in the same space where previously only two guide bars 33 of theold type could be accommodated.

To accomplish this two of the hanger arms 21 and stub rods 22 carried byhangers 20 are removed and a single hanger arm 21 and stub rod 22installed to replace them. From the single hanger arm 21 and stub rod 22depends one multiple guide bar. assembly 19.

As can best be appreciated from FIGS. and 6 the pattern guide bars 35a,35b, 35c and 35d are all mounted for slideable movement in guide barbracket 37. Each of the guide bars 35 carries one or more yarn guides 38as may be called for by the pattern to be knitted. The guide bars 35 areprovided with threaded apertures into which screws 39 are threaded tosecure the yarn guides 38 to the guide bars 35. The T-shaped heads ofthe yarn guides 38 are provided with slots to permit lateral adjustment.Also shown is a wire yarn guide 40 having a single loop at its upper endto receive the screws 39.

The guide bar bracket 37 is held securely in position by the hanger arms21 and stub rods 22. A ball joint 41 is provided in the linkage betweenhanger arm 21 and guide bar bracket 37 so that the proper angularposition of the guide bar bracket 37 with respect to the vertical can beobtained. Positioning rod 42 is secured to the guide bar bracket 37 atits lower end and at its upper end is provided with a collar that can betightened around stub rods 22 to securely hold the guide bar bracket 37in its proper position.

As can be noted from FIG. 2, by a proper combination of angular positionof the guide bar brackets 37 at ball joint 41 and angular bend in theyarn guides 29 the yarn carrying lower ends of yarn guides 29 can all belocated closely adjacent to one another in proximity to the needles 28.

The guide bar bracket 37 is channel-shaped and is adapted to receivefour guide bars 35a, 35b, 35c and 35d. The guide bars 35 are H-shapedand have slots 43 extending throughout their entire length. A lip 44 isformed in the upper portion of the bracket 37 to engage in slot 43 ofguide bar 35a, and a lip 45 is formed by the lower portion of bracket 37to engage in the lower slot 43 of guide bar 35d. Interposed betweenguide bars 35a and 35b, and between guide bars 35b and 350, and betweenguide bars 35c and 35d, are anti-friction nylon rollers 47. Theserollers 47 roll in slots 43 between the guide bars 35 and have adiameter slightly greater than the total depth of the two adjacent slots43'so that the guide bars 35 are slightly separated from one anotheralong their entire length. Other spacer elements can be located betweenthe guide bars 35 to insure that they will be separated from one anotherand freely movable, independent of one another.

Threaded through slots 48 in the vertical portion of guide bar' bracket37 into guide bars 35b and 350 are screws 49. These screws slide inslots 48 and serve to further hold the guide bars 35b and 356 in theirproper position.

As can be appreciated from FIG. 6 the guide bars 35 will be held by lips43 and screws 49 to insure that they will hold their proper position asthey are moved in a shogging motion during the knitting cycle. This isimportant to make sure that there will be no interference between theguides 38 and the needles 28 in gating.

The shogging motion is imparted to the pattern guide bars 35 throughpush rods 23 and shogging linkage 51 from the pattern chain 52. The pushrods 23 are mounted for slideable movement in slider boxes 24 secured toshelf 25. As viewed in FIG. 3 the right-hand end of push rods 23 areheld firmly against the pattern chain 52 by springs 53 and are providedat this end with an antifriction roller 54.

The shogging linkage 51 which links the push rods 23 to the guide bars35 is flexible in nature to accommodate the gaiting motion of the guidebars 35. Each of the push rods 23 has secured to it at its innermost endan anvil 55. The anvils 55a, 55b, 55c and 55d are linked to theirrespective guide bars 35a, 35b, 35c and 35d by a link of flexible nylontubing 57. To provide additional rigidity a spring 58 is tightly coiledaround the nylon tubing 57.

The anvils 55a, 55b, 55c and 55d are all of different lengths and are soshaped that the nylon tubing 57 and springs 58 associated with each ofthe guide bars 35 will not interfere with one another as the knittingcycle proceeds through its shogging and gaiting motions.

As can best be seen in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, each of the anvils 55 issecured to its associated push rod 23 by threaded screws 59 and haslocated at its outer end a stud 60. The stud 60 is threaded into anvil55 and the nylon tubing 57 is force-fit around the smooth outer end ofthe stud 60. In like manner, each of the guide bars 35 is provided withan attaching member 61a, 61b, 61c and 61d which carries a stud 62'threaded into it, and the other end of the nylon tubing 57 is force-fitaround the smooth end of stud 62. The attaching members 61a, 61b, 61cand 61d are so shaped that they cooperate with the shape of the anvils55 to prevent interference between the nylon tubings 57 as the machineproceeds through its shogging and gaiting motions.

Stud 60 is provided with a lock nut 63 and adjusting screw collar 64 sothat minor adjustments can be made to take up slack in the nylon tubing57.

While the device as shown here employs the use of the flexible nylontubing 57 to positively connect the push rods 23 with the guide bars 35,this structure is not an essential feature of the invention. As would beapparent to anyone skilled in the art, the well-known guide stud carriedby the guide bars, which in turn simply bear on anvils carried by thepush rods, could be employed, as could any other suitable linkage knownin the art.

In operation during the knitting cycle each of the guide bars 35 can beindependently moved in a shogging motion by its associated series ofchain links and each of the guide bars 35 and the guides 38 carriedthereon will function in the knitting cycle in the conventional mannerwell known in the art.

Since all of the guide bars 35a, 35b, 35c and 35d are separated from oneanother by anti-friction means, movement is completely free andunrestricted and is no more limited in the structure shown than in theconventional mounting thereof. Except that the shogging motion of theguide bars 35 is limited by the fact that the guides 38 carried thereonall lie in the same plane and cannot pass each other or cross over.

What I claim is:

1. In a warp knitting machine having a guide bar hanger and means forurging said guide bar hanger in a gaiting motion, a guide bar carryingmember supported by said guide bar hanger, a plurality of guide barssupported by said guide bar carrying member and mounted for slideablemovement relative to one another, and means for independently urgingeach of said guide bars in a shagging motion, said last mentioned meanscomprising a shogging linkage, push rods mounted for slideable movementrelative to said guide bar hanger, means for resiliently urging saidpush rods into engagement with said shogging linkage, flexible memberslinking each of said push rods to one of said guide bars, each of saidpush rods having located at its end away from said shogging linkages ananvil, and each of said guide bars having located at its end nearest thepush rods an attaching member and each of said flexible members beingsecured at one end to one of said anvils and at its other end to one ofsaid attaching members, said anvils and attaching members being formedso as to prevent said flexible members from interfering with one anotheras the knitting machine goes through its gaiting and shogging motions.

2. In a warp knitting machine a guide bar bracket, a plurality ofindependently movable guide bars carried by said guide bar bracket, saidguide bars being arranged one substantially vertically above the otherin said guide bar bracket, said warp knitting machine having a guide barhanger, means for urging said guide bar hanger in a gaiting motion, andmeans for securing said guide bar bracket to said guide bar hanger.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said guide bars are mountedin anti-friction contact with one another.

4. In a warp knitting machine including a hanger having a gaitingmotion, a guide bar bracket, means for securing said guide bar bracketto the hanger, and a group of guide bars carried by said guide barbracket and being independently movable therein, said guide bars of saidgroup being arranged one substantially vertically above the other. 7

5. In a warp knitting machine, a guide bar hanger, means for imparting agaiting motion to said hanger, a plurality of guide bar brackets securedto said hanger, a group of independently movable guide bars carried byeach of said guide bar brackets, said guide bars of each group beingarranged one substantially vertically above the other in said guide barbrackets, knitting elements, yarn guides on said guide bars for placingyarn on said knitting elements, and means for independently shoggingsaid guide bars.

6. In a warp knitting machine a plurality of independently movable guidebars carried by a single guide bar bracket, said guide bars beingmounted one directly above the other in said guide bar bracket, saidWarp knitting machine having a guide bar hanger, means for urging saidguide bar hanger in a gaiting motion, and means for securing said guidebar bracket to said guide bar hanger, each of said guide bars having afront face and the front faces of all of said guide bars carried by asingle guide bar bracket lying in a single plane.

7. In a. warp knitting machine a plurality of independently movableguide bars carried by a single guide bar bracket, said guide bars beingmounted one directly above the other in said guide bar bracket, saidwarp knitting machine having a guide bar hanger, means for urging saidguide bar hanger in a gaiting motion, and means for securing said guidebar bracket to said guide bar hanger, each of said guide bars having ayarn guide secured thereto, said yarn guides being secured to said guidebars at one end of said yarn guides and said ends all lying in a singleplane.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,534,184 12/1950Staff 6686 2,921,452 1/1960 Held 66-86 ROBERT R. MACKEY, Acting PrimaryExaminer.

RUSSELL C. MADER, DONALD W. PARKER, PRICE C. FAW, Assistant Examiners.

2. IN A WRAP KNITTING MACHINE A GUIDE BAR BRACKET, A PLURALITY OFINDEPENDENTLY MOVABLE GUIDE BARS CARRIED BY SAID GUIDE BAR BRACKET, SAIDGUIDE BARS BEING ARRANGED ONE SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICALLY ABOVE THE OTHERIN SAID GUIDE BAR BRACKET, SAID WARP KNITTING MACHINE HAVING A GUIDE BARHANGER, MEANS FOR URGING AND GUIDE BAR HANGER IN A GAITING MOTION, ANDMEANS FOR SECURING SAID GUIDE BAR BRACKET TO SAID GUIDE BAR HANGER.